Today I received a pair of ERR speakers from Bob, without grilles. Man, they were well packed.

I know this pair has been pretty well broken in and when set up I recognized the bright and spacious sound of the RL2s as a main component to these speakers.

I fiddled with a capacitor, changed resistors and I have to say. . . right now if you told me "Lon, you can only have one pair of speakers or I'll shoot this dog, choose!". .. my immediate choice would be my beloved IT Radial speakers (which are very close to if not the same as the Turning Point Audio HR-1 speakers). I can't tell you right now if that is because I'm so very familiar with those beloved speakers right now, or if they are clearly that much more favored by my ears!

The ERRs definitely have that Radial room-filling sound to more of an extent than the IT Radials, which have a bit more of a conventional sound as the excellent front firing driver contributes a lot to the sound. The IT Radials have a better tonal balance right now for me and my room. The ERRs have a less specific imaging (to be expected) and a brighter tonal balance (I also sort of expected that.) There's less bass at the moment.

I've just begun to get to know them though, and my experience with other Radial speakers make me think I'll find them improved with the grilles in place, so hopefully those will come soon.

"IT"s all in a name, nothing more...."IT" stands for Isotropic, but thinking someone would have to look it up to see what it means (I did) I thought it would be best to change the name to HR-1, which "HR" stands for Hybrid Radial. Yours are the same as the HR-1's

For me, "IT" meant just that. This is "IT"! Just what I have been wanting in from a speaker. As you know its hard to beat the omni effect of the radial type speaker.

Your ERR radial driver is brand new, 20 hrs on it at best as well as any crossover parts. The tweeter on the other hand is well broken in. So you do have some break in time ahead of you.

Your grills on the other hand were over a year old and smelled like Bob's house, thus the reason I didn't ship them. The lady that sews them is working on them now. I just sent her 6 yards of cloth and she has used that all up and is waiting on more.

Pale Rider,

I don't think there is a better, more integrated surround speaker, than ERR's . When I lived in the Phoenix area, I was around a lot of "High End" home theater rooms on a daily basis. We tried a set of RL-1.5 as LRC and rears, and to see the guys in the showroom with there chins on the floor was a site to see. Even with the new room correction software, which I'm told you could lay on the floor in the back corner of the room and hear the same thing as if you were in the sweet spot. It doesn't come close IMHO.

Ah, thanks for the clarification Bob. It did strike me this morning that maybe the woofers weren't broken in as I heard the sound shift a little bit. That may also explain why the bass didn't seem quite there. . . .

These are really attractive and well made speakers. They seem about 200 percent more heavy duty and serious than my RL2s. The Tweeter suspended on its arc seems more effective than the RL2 arrangement as well. As soon as I turned the system on this morning and put some Dave Brubeck in I heard that deep and resonant sound that the RL2s do so well. There is an improved sound scape as well, and I think if the bass fleshes out a bit more it will be a decided improvement on the bass from the RL2s.

The IT/HR-1 design is hard to beat and these speakers I don't think will ever diminish their status in my personal speaker hierarchy. The hardest thing to get right in my room is bass, I'm always diminishing treble to get a warmer balance, and the IT/HR-1 with the Torii Mk III has the best bass I've ever lived with. These ERRs already have a hint that they're going to be just fine in that regard.

I got used to that special sound that the IT/HR-1 have with it's additional driver and its more "encapsulated" radial set up. Pin-point crystal clear imaging and that "dialed in" feeling along with the spacious radial sound. I miss it a bit already! Still, this morning the ERRs have been drawing me in. Still not that many hours on them, so I expect to find them improving hour by hour.

One thing I can say is that they really sound good with my dvr as the source. That's my weakest source as far as fidelity and the IT/HR-1 shows me that with a little tapping of the foot as if to say "well, when are you going to do something about that?" The ERRs are adding a bit more forgiving depth and makes me just relax into that sound a bit more. That's a neat trick!

Lon, great info, much appreciated. In a way, I am lucky that I am moving back to a high fidelity loudspeaker system, after being away from such for years. All my hi-fi is headphone based, and so I have a very different point of reference. My last hi-fi speaker rig was almost two decades ago. I think my focus will be on detail, and micro-detail. In that regard, the ERRs will be up against tough standards in my Jerry Harvey JH-13 Pro IEMs, and my Audez'e LCD-2 cans running on the Taboo. Detail out of the IEMs is extraordinary, and while soundstage is good, it takes another step up on the Taboo running in Lucid Mode. Soundstage and imaging on headphones is a bit artificial, but Lucid Mode will provide an interesting comparator to the ERRs. In my room, without comparing to headphones, the ERRs are just going to be an entirely new plane in my listening that I haven't lived with in almost 20 years.

Well. .. the ERRs are going to be even more than that. They are not your ordinary high end speaker. Though you'll be able to focus on detail, in two channel you'll be drawn into the presentation of the sound, the ERR will present sound in ways that you are not likely t have thought of or heard.

And in a surround system. Wow. I can imagine that it is as jaw-dropping as Bob says it is. I can imagine it presenting sound like the ripples in a pond when a pebble falls in the center. It's going to really be something. It may take you away form detail and into . . .experience.

Your grills on the other hand were over a year old and smelled like Bob's house, thus the reason I didn't ship them. The lady that sews them is working on them now. I just sent her 6 yards of cloth and she has used that all up and is waiting on more.

Difficult to imagine a more intimate, craft-oriented product development & delivery process.

Anyway, Lon did you say what surface the speakers are on? Carpet? Hardwood? Have you spiked them? I seem to recall reading they were built for spikes; is that correct? Mine will be going on hardwood, so am contemplating what eventually to put under them, if anything.

Mine are on short carpet.I belive that there are threaded holes at the corners of each speaker for spikes (none came with the speaker). I had experimented with various spikes and footers on the IT Radial/HR-1 and actually found them best sounding just sitting flat on the floor once they were broken in; that was the perfect tweeter height for my sitting position. These ERRs have the tweeter seemingly a little lower than the other speakers, and as the woofers aren't quite loosened up, and the tonal balance is a bit thin, right now rather than sitting on the floor, and rather than spikes I have them sitting on the "balls" that go into Herbie Audio Lab IsoCups, at the moment the two front balls are the Gabon ebony ones, and the two back are the moss green in the back (extra balls on hand that I had from previous purchases; I didn't have eight balls of one kind on hand). The balls stay in place tucked into the threaded holes on the bottom for spikes. I don't really know if they do any isolating good, but they do bring the tweeter up a bit to more of a position that I'm used to for evaluating purposes.

Stonedeaf here uses the Herbie's Audio Lab "Gliders" on the bottom of the speakers. I used those for quite some time but was surprised to find that they added a sharpness to the sound that I didn't prefer compared to the speakers sitting directly on the floor alone; I moved the gliders to the feet of the redwood stand I use for my TV which also houses my DVR and ZDAC-1 and CSP2 on maple platforms. The Gliders work very well for that purpose, I also put them under the legs of the wooden former acquarium stand I have the components in my bedroom situatied on.

I'd recommend listening for some time with the speakers flat on the floor, that may well be the ticket, I'm definitely going to try that when the ERRs are broken in, and when they're in their home in my bedroom system, or their most-likely home.

I've been playing with speaker placement today. I had been keeping the ERRs in about the same areas of floor space that I had been using for the IT Radials/HR-1. I moved outside of that today and moved the speakers further back (and my listening seats further forward) than I'd been using before and that helped the tonal balance a bit.

It's still changing. I can say one thing though: I had been very happy with my RL2s, and when these ERRs were announced and first available I had the suspicion that these were an improved design. Well, that suspicion is borne out. I haven't yet gotten the RL2s into the system for a direct comparison, but I feel that I'm already getting a certain type of bass response and a depth to the sound that the RL2 design hadn't delivered. . . .

Your spikes will come with the grills, We package them with the grills as we haven't figured out a safe place to put them in with the speakers. As you saw the only empty space in the boxes was around the drivers, yeah I can see a spike going through the cone.

Also don't forget the tweeter bracket is bendable, so you can adjust for height to your listening position. Don't just bend it by pushing on the tweeter itself, if you are going back with it, place your two middle fingers behind the bracket while pushing against your fingers with your thumbs just above. Middle finges would be placed right where it screws to the driver. This puts no strain on the screws yet can allow you to bend it quite easily.

The bass comments surprise me, we listened to your speakers with Gatto Barbieri's "Straight Into The Sunrise" and they were pretty much spot on with the HR-1's with the 1's able to go lower.

Well, it is what it is bass wise. This room and this crooked little house has always been problematic with bass. There's weird things going on, with its wood paneled rooms, carpet over hardwood floor on pier and beam foundation, and about eighty years old now. I'll find just the right spot for the bass that doesn't mess with the other properties yet. And it'll open up a bit more. Maybe I'm just so accustomed to that "little bit lower" and maybe there's a lower mid-range that's not there yet that I'm missing. These ERRs are sounding better by the hour.

I spent most of the day watching The Tudors Season 2, and not paying attention to the audio as much as when I'm playing cds and reading etc.

This afternoon I put in one of my favorite concert dvds, and it sounds fantastic!

Probably could be a touch more bass but everything else is just right. The excellent recording is very well served. The acoustics of the church seem to be transported by that one microphone (I think) and right into my living room. I'm very impressed. The beautiful sound of the beautiful guitars on this (especially Ryan Adams' Gibson ES 355 Stereo ("Peanut") and that old Gretsch of Michael Timmons) is just clear as a bell, and the vocals are very well presented.

Oh hell yeah. It comes in a cd/dvd package and it's pretty easy to find cheap usually. I like it better than the original Trinity Sessions cd. The guests (Ryan Adams, Natalie Merchant and Vic Chesnutt) make it special. Really precise slow groove based playing, and killer sound. Interesting visually as well.

Okay, something's happened to the ERRs. They're sounding really full and deep. I first noticed it afther the Prince "New Power Soul" cd was started and when I put this Monk on it made me grab my bass violin and plunk along. I did okay for a few songs, but my stamina isn't there; I have to not neglect this instrument! I gave up for now after two songs.

Okay, I made two changes. I got a package in from Herbie's Audio Lab and put IsoCup lampblack balls under all four corners of the ERRs. Heck they're only like 59 cents and postage. And I had ordered more baby booties because when I moved my maple platform and CSP2 and ZDAC-1 to the shelf on my redwood tv stand, I didn't have room to put the CSP2 on anything but baby booties, four. I added four more to the CSP2.

Either one or the other or both really brought out the bass response in the room. Not complaining, instead I'm grooving!

Okay. . . oddly enough I think it was the lampblack balls predominantly. I ran the Monk cd through my Sony BDP-S5000ES, which feeds both into the ZDAC-1 then the CSP2 and directly into the amp via analog outs, and it wasn't thinner sounding either way.

Odd. Maybe the ERRs just. . . "turned a page." I don't think that changing footer balls from Herbie would make that much difference. I do feel they make a little bit of difference in the IsoCups. and I was using two different types (same two) under each speaker, and now using one. I don't know. I'm entering into audiophile twilight zone. Time to go meet my gal for dinner!

Dinner didn't happen. I couldn't pry her away from work. She stayed til 1. I did visit her there with a snack for her.

I think the lampblack balls make a nice isolator, the ball touches the floor at one point and the speaker at another, and the material is pretty neutral. I think the its possible however the change was more accurately attributed to the speaker cones loosening up a bit after a few days of use.

I've tried yet another speaker positioning in the room. Asymetrical, but my room is asymetricaly set up as far as furnisihings. A dryer sound, but perhaps a more accurate sound, a bigger sound. These speakers are fun to play around with, they are so responsive to both source material and the room.

I would think they would, though I have carpet over my hardwood floors so haven't tried them. But with the weight of the speakers, well, shouldn't move.

My gal is the office manager of the state Supreme Court, and her working life IS her life for the most part. And she finally got a great assistant after years of having a very shitty one . . . but she's out on maternity leave, halfway through, six more weeks of leave. My gal is almost going crazy but she can't let things just 'lie". . . she has to have it all done and done perfectly. When she's gotten help she's had to redo most of it so she does most of it herself. When your boss is the Chief Justice (though in a real sense all nine judges are her bosses) you've got a complex job.

She totally amazes me. She's the most focused and dedicated person I know. And . . . the most loving and kind. One of a kind, really.

Save your happiness for when I can convince her to retire, again. She retired and was asked to come back to work at the same position. I see so little of her. . . I want to have more time with her. Maybe when the term of the chief is over. . . in five years or so. Man . . . that's a long time to wait.

Well, it's been like six days since I posted. Been doing a lot of listening.

I've decided that just like with the HR1/IT Radial, the ERR works best in my room sitting flat on its bottom, no Herbie Audio Fat Glides, no IsoBalls, just sitting on the carpet. It may have to do with my height seated and tweeter height. Not sure. But that's definitely where I get the tonal balance natural.

The speakers have opened up more and I've played around with moving the components in my system around, moving power cords around, etc. Getting some great sound. I am starting to miss my HR1/IT Radials. . . even as the ERR improve I still feel the other speakers give me just a more refined and full sound, as they should. I'm hanging in with the ERRs. . . they sure do sound great. I'm curious to hear what they sound like with the grilles, and I'm also reticent to move them back into the bedroom without them, it's tight quarters in there and I don't want any accidents!

Yesterday one of my PS Audio Duet power center's MOV unit gave out. While I wait for another, I moved things around so that my Torii and CSP2 are both plugged directly into the larger of my isolation transformers and the source components are connected to the functioning Duet plugged into the other isolation transformer. A bit wilder and woolier sound as a result, which I'm not warming to. I got weak and ordered something I've wanted for a while, a PS Audio Power Plant Premier. . . . Music Direct had a B Stock for less than half the original list price and that should be here tomorrow. I'm looking forward to seeing what that will do for my setup. As a bonus, my bedroom system will improve with former power components from this system. . . .

My one beef so far with the ERR is that though the bass is tight and sweet. . . there just doesn't seem to be the impact and depth to it that I get from the HR1/IT Radials, and I miss that. . . .

All in, from preamps through speakers, including cables, I am coming in slightly hot on the budget. And only from a timing perspective. I had originally expected that, over time, I might have to spend way more to get the sound I wanted. Until I heard the Taboo.

I really hate the buy and sell merry-go-round. I love trying out gear, but the endless "quest state," that has an underlying tone of dissatisfaction, even unhappiness, detracts from the music. All hobbies suffer from this problem, but I think audio is even worse because the goal of reproduction of music is a quest for incorporeal perfection. Right now, it seems technology still has a horizon on its ability to recreate a live performance. So, we pursue this goal of the most perfect facsimile.

Living for 15 years in mid-fi land, and then returning to critical listening first through headphones, afforded me the luxury of deciding what facsimile to "settle for." ironically, despite all the technological change over the last couple of decades, the facsimile "types" haven't changed much. Although the value of simplicity seems to have had a renaissance, e.g., SET amps and full-range drivers, and the technological execution of everything is better than ever, the types of "reanimating life" are still recognizable. I expect the ERRs to remind me of my Ohm Walsh speakers. Just better, I hope. Do I expect them to sound like the $40,000 Orgasmatron? Meh, prolly not. But if they get me 90-95% of the way there, I will be a happy camper for a long time.

I'm with you, though I did enjoy the journey, now I just want to settle into the music and video of my collection and listen and watch and enjoy and not "tweak" and seek.

I was pretty much there . . . The ERRs finally arriving sparked another round of tweaking and reconfiguring to best adapt them to the system. And in the process one of the Duets died, and I found that I could not live with just one Duet in the system as comfortably as I had with two. As it will take me a few weeks to get a replacement MOV via PS Audio, I sprang for the Power Plant Premier which arrived a few hours ago.

And which is another kettle of fish to stir, season and taste. It's not a subtle difference to the sound with the Premier in the system. Oy vey, back to square one of setting up and . . . well it's fun for now. This is quite a machine. Like my old P300, but on steroids. It has taken an edginess out of my treble that I am glad to have gone, and it has given my system an even blacker background to jump out of and startle me.

I'm almost ready to put the HR1/IT Radials back in. I think I prefer them to the ERRs by a small margin, and I'm eager to hear what they sound like with the Premier in the system now.

I'm going to try to attach one I found on the computer that I took really to showcase my "Jazz" Fender axes. The system doesn't look like that any longer, the TV is on its own stand, etc. and the ITs are not in "listening position."

I really, really like the red one. They would go with my red Torii. Damn, there is always something cooler than what I have. How much cash do I need to scrape together? Anybody want to buy a Honda CBX or a BSA Goldstar?

Okay, later today I think I'm going to put the IT Radials/HR-1s back in the system. I feel that the ERRs are broken in and showing themselves to be a fantastic room-filling speaker. Man, I've rarely had the quality sound I've enjoyed this week. Kudos to Bob and Steve, and don't hesitate to buy a pair.

The bass has filled in and it's quick and full and the detail on bass guitar and bass violin and bass drum skins and heads is just luscious. The treble had been pretty much right THERE from the start because they had been broken in by Bob.

I had a long wait for these speakers, and they're worth the wait. I'll soon find out what they do in the bedroom. I think they'll be even better suited for that room than the RL2s or the IT/HR-1s. We'll soon find out.

The other thing that has been a component in this thread and this review is. . . the PS Audio Power Plant Premier. Wow. What a product. I am sorry I didn't address my Power Plant issues before. Yes, I was getting great sound with the Tripplite isolation transformers and the PS Audio Duet power centers. But. . . the Premier has taken every thing clearly to the next level. I now really know what my system is capable of.

In my case it may be that my house power is particularly dirty. The Premier has readouts which show input voltage and input THD in the power. I show fluctuations throughout the day and week of between 118 and 125 volts coming in. I also show THD of these volts of between 4.1 and 6.0 THD. According to what I see others posting this is HIGH. So perhaps that is why there is such a profound transformation of my system. But there is, regardless. Everything is better. There is a quieter background which allows a clearer and more dynamic sound. I can't tell you how transformed some recordings are. There's bass drums in Prince recordings that have become more vivid and pronounced. The gap between "live" and "recorded" has been a bit narrowed. I am very very pleased with this product. It's even more profound than placing a CSP2 in front of one of the Decware amps, which I am here to tell you is a marked improvement every time I've done it. I regret spending the money on the Premier. . . I regret that I hadn't done it before, instead of now. I think this is worth a try in any system. I'm as excited about this as I am about all my Decware components because it shows me yet again just how fabulous each and every one of them are.

Lon, your post is very timely. My Premier arrived yesterday, and despite the carping from some sectors about Chinese production quality, it is a handsome unit, that not only feels robust due its weight/volume ratio—those big-a$$ toroidal transformers will do that, just like with my Transcendent Balanced Power Supply—but has excellent fit and finish. I cannot discern that it is a B-stock from appearance. I immediately decided to order another. Alas, they are no longer available from MD.

I plan to test both my BPS and the Monster AVS-2000 I have been using for years by plugging the PPP into them and measuring the THD on the power. Additionally, I have ordered a PS Audio Soloist Premier to replace the mains receptacle in my living room. I also picked up a couple of their Noise Harvesters after reading some positive reviews. Good price on fleabay.

Your points about the improvement of your sonics echo exactly what Steve writes about in every single user manual, and in several papers.

Okay, I really surprised myself. Shortly after my last post I exchanged the locations of the ERRs and the HR-1s.

What was surprising was I immediately missed the ERRs. I listened all afternoon and til an hour ago to the HR-1s. Fantastic speakers. So detailed and musical. But. . .well. . . I find that at this time, in the main system, I am preferring the warmer, larger sound from the ERRs. There's a certain precision and a certain type of spaciousness from the HR-1s that the ERRs can't do, but there's also a more dynamic sound, a more punchy low bass that the ERRs provide the HR-1s don't. And that has been what sold me so far. I think that the real reason is the height of the speaker. having the tweeter about the height of the midrange driver on the HR-1s seems to make the difference. The tweeters on the HR-1 are thus higher by a good bit and that impacts the sound a lot. And having the more fully exposed upward firing radial driver also shapes the sound. And I just plain love the sound.

It's great to have tow wonderful options, as I do with Redbook playback from my SCD-XA5400ES playback and ZDAC-1 playback. I can switch back and forth and either way I have great sound.

Kudos kudos kudos Bob and Steve. This just proves I love the Radial sound in its purest form, and the ERRs are the best example yet from the company of that sound. I'm a happy happy camper! Can't wait to hear what the grilles will do for the speakers.

That sounds sweet Lon. Looks like mine will be shipping this week. All three pairs could show up at the same time. Good thing. I was debating whether even to connect the Torii to the Orb Audio speakers as a way to begin the break-in process. Would prefer not to.

In the last two weeks the PS Audio Power Plant Premier has been in the system and transformed it in a good way. I've been futzing with things more than I generally do as a result. And I found some SC series power cords from PS Audio at prices I couldn't resist (a Plus and a Premier) and I've added those to the system. I already had a Premier on the Torii and I put one on the CSP2 and the Plus on the ZDAC-1. Wow, these are excellent, and once broken in the sound is really amazing. Open and deep. Different than the Decware cords, I still like those and have them on the source components. But these expensive PS Audio cords are something else. My system has taken on a real solidity it lacked before, the cords help out the Power Plant Premier a lot, transferring the benefits.

The ERRs are allowing me to hear everything, any change I make in a tube or a cord or an interconnect. It's a bit maddening sometimes, especially when things are breaking in, but it's ultimately a great benefit. The IT Radials/HR-1 are also transparent and show me everything, but there's a certain spaciousness to the sound of the ERRs that I respond to with gusto. I don't have the grilles yet, it will be interesting to see how they effect the sound.

I'm very very happy. Right now I think it's time to save up or move money around over the next months towards a really great digital front end. I've been reading reviews of the PS Audio Perfect Wave Transport and DAC combo that are very intriguing. My system I bet would really drink that combo in and stream out great sound. I've got to get busy and see whether I'll have enough money to score one of those in the near future, or something like it. I now feel that my sources are the weakest link, it couldn't be the Torii or the ERRs or the cabling I have. It sounds so good, but somehow I know that with better sources it could be even more fantastic.

Lon, keep us apprised of your digital front end explorations. The Perfect Wave series is really good stuff, but there are so many great options out there. I would encourage you to consider a true computer server. The folks at Computer Audiophile are full of great resources. CA's DIY "pocket server" is very intriguing.

Thanks for the recommendation on the PS Audio power cords; saw that a couple were "sale pending" on Audiogon, and wondered if hat was you. Prices for those are all over the map, but watch out for the ripoffs and knockoffs.

Agree about watching for knockoffs. I got taken once, use the cord as a guitar amp cord. Delivers lots of juice but doesn't sound as it should.

I think I'm going to go with the Perfect Wave combo in the near future. I HAVE tried a music server setup. This spring I gave a room free of rent to a friend of mine who moved to Austin three years ago (to a room in my house), after six months got out of here, then never quite took off here in town, didn't find permanent work, was back in my home for about four months, and moved to California.

He's a digital audio engineer. He has sold his entire cd collection over the last few years and moved it all into digital files and went totally computer based. (Doesn't seem ethical to me to sell the discs and keep the music, but he downloads stuff every day off the net, he seems to think music should be free. And he's a wannabe musician who would kill to be paid for a gig or a song. Go figure.)

He insisted on showing me on my system how and what it could be. Set me up, using his computer as the server, it's tricked out for audio purposes. I/we listened that way about three days.

Well. . . I was pretty under-whelmed. At best it sounded almost as good as my Sony SCD-XA5400ES or BDP-S5000ES feeding the ZDAC-1. It didn't sound better to me at any point. And I didn't enjoy the process or using the computer for music. It's not for me. At least not now. I have about 15.000 recordings and I love the filing of them, the handling of them, how they feel and sound. Maybe one day I'll go there, but I really don't have a desire to. The appeal to the PS Audio units is they could be used as the nerve center of just such a system if I choose to, and they are the ultimately useful nerve center for my disc players. They can be non oversampling or you can choose sampling rates, you can invert polarity, it uses i2S via HDMI, it's really something. There's some money that was my wife's that I have to change over to my name, there's personal reasons why I haven't gone for it but I could really use the money now and I'm probably going to go for it. If I do I may buy "the last digital front end" (yeah right) I'll ever buy, whatever that is. I'm sort of using that as an incentive to get me to go through the giant pain to get my hands on the money. We'll see.

Anyway, I know there's a lot of flexibility and benefit in going computer -based, but I'm not ready for that yet. I'm pretty locked in. I'm so happy with my system right now that I sort of want to get the best source for me and then spend less time on line looking at audio stuff, reading about audio stuff, talking about audio stuff, and go find some meaningful work. Get myself a life! Smiley

Makes sense. I like the Perfect Wave stuff a lot. Very, very good stuff. As you know, you and I sit on different sides of this fence. I like the amorphous nature of having all my files on the computer and interacting there. I like scrolling through thousands of cuts, "flipping" through album art on my iPad or iPhone, random shuffle play. I could still see doing the Perfect Wave Transport, but I don't think the DAC is the one for me. I love my modded PS Audio DAC. it is very nice, and have had little desire to replace it, but will have to add a new DAC to the home system eventually, when I bring the Synology Disk Station on line with the new system. It does very well so far as a music server, but it will take some more listening to decide whether the Oppo will be adequate as the front end for that server. I should re-phrase that. So far, the Oppo sounds good as an audio front end, and its network flexibility is quite excellent. In some ways, it is a poor man's PW Transport+DAC. But it is not the long-term answer. DACs will get better, and whether I use a Mac mini, or an Auraliti or a CAPS server, I will want a separate music server and front end.

Hey I can understand your position. I think the Perfect Wave combo will be perfect for my needs the next decade or so and will be a great complement to the Decware system I have.

Music Direct currently has a very good deal, the combo comes with two of the best PS Audio cables and their top of the line HDMI cable (for i2s connection between transport and DAC). This is very tempting as those would suit my needs admirably. I think I can swing the purchase and might do so. I like the way the DAC can be non-sampling or overs-sampling, that you can choose digital filters, and that you can invert phase with the touch of a screen---I have a number of Japanese cds that sound better to me with polarity reversed. Seems like a very satisfying product.

Wow. Today everything sounds so rich and full and great that I wonder how it could sound better. But I know that it could.

The most recent PS Audio xStream cable I picked up, a Premier SC, has about 300 hours on it now and man I can't believe how good these cables are. Having one on the CSP2 and the Torii Mk III has just opened up a new vista in clarity and deptth. When broken in it's as if they suddenly take off. The Plus on the ZDAC-1 (which I am now using for Redbook in most cases, and Blu-Ray) is almost as good. Love these cables.

Listening to this one right now and it's just brutally hard swinging and stimulating. The system is just dishing it out. That Baney Kessell model Gibson guitar is just "testifyin'"!

Well, I took the plunge. I ordered the PS Audio Perfect Wave Transport and DAC combo.

This HAS to be my last audio purchase for a long time! And it likely will be. I'm excited. With the I2S connection, the built in Digital Lens, the RAM buffering, the choices of over-sampling or non-over-sampling, the choice of five different digital filters, the fact that it should serve as an excellent preamp. . . I'm excited. I'll be able to remove from my system the ZDAC-1, the CSP2, my Sony SCD-XA5400ES, and the Peachtree Audio Decco that I was using as a second DAC. I can really beef up my bedroom system, or I could have a nice littel sale. This of course if I decide to keep the "combo" after the thirty day trial, but I have a feeling I will.

It should arrive sometime tomorrow. I'll of course list some impressions here over the weekend.

I know that the Torii Mk III and the ERRs are up to the task of showing me just how good this digital combo can be!

Well, if the PerfectWave is great, I'll either keep the Sony in the system for uses with SACD discs, or put it in the bedroom as the main audio source there.

I already found, a year after buying the ZDAC-1 and using it for my DVD and Blu-Ray and DVR audio that for a lot of Redbook titles I liked the ZDAC-1 being fed by the Sony to be a bit better sound than the Sony alone. Still, the Sony excelled on acoustic recorded music such as jazz and classical. Just had a bit more of a sweetness. For the 1300 dollars I spent on it, the Sony is a real bargain, it didn't cost what this PS Audio combo does!

Sorry to hear that. Frustrating. In all my years of ordering, I have only had one problem with FedEx, and it was so bizarre, that it was clearly an outlier. Driver simply delivered a new MacBook Pro [first of the Intel chip series] to a wrong address not far from my office, and when we finally tracked down where it went, the recipient tried to keep it claiming "finders keepers"! By the time I tracked it down, (less than 4 hours later) the a$$hole had already opened it up and set it up as his own machine. FedEx acknowledged the mistake, and Apple took it back and gave me a new one. Very weird. Other than that, in years of ordering, I have never had a FedEx problem. OTOH, don't get me started on UPS.

I've never had a problem with FedEx before either, and yeah, don't get me started on UPS.

For about three years I had a UPS driver that half the time would make my wife or I sign in person for things that the shipper nor I had requested to sign for. . .I had to miss work and go home to sign and get things a day or two late, all because someone had bought the other side of my street and moved all the old houses away and built McMansions, and most of the construction workers were of Mexican descent. He hinted to me several times that he didn't trust anything on a porch on this side of the street because of "those guys." The worker were hard-working family men who would not steal something from my porch. It made me so mad! I hate racism.I called a few times and was told it was the driver's perogative and they would defer to his judgment, if he felt it was not safe, he had the right. And my calling and "inquiring" didn't help.

Anyway, he finally moved to another route and I have a great UPS driver now. Thank goodness.

Out here in the Bay Area, and my guess is elsewhere as well, the current fad is for petty thieves to follow the delivery trucks and simply help themselves to whatever they leave along the route. My boss, who lives in a fairly well-to-do neighborhood in Palo Alto, lost packages three days in a row, and even lost the replacement items the shippers sent him!

Our neighborhood is okay, but this crap can happen anywhere. I just ship everything to the office, except large bulky items of lower value (e.g, some of the large grocery items we get through Amazon, or the composter, etc.). And with vendors like Decware who charge actual shipping, I get slightly lower rates to the office, and I think the drivers on the commercial routes seem better, in part perhaps because they have a routine face-to-face relationship with their recipient staff.

Well this was happening a few years ago in my case, and I don't have that kind of town or area. . . I'm blessed that there have been no thefts from porches or yards or houses in this neighborhood all the twenty-three years or so I've lived in this neighborhood.

The point was the driver wouldn't leave the packages because "there were Mexicans across the street." I found that very offensive then and still do! And I had to keep my wife from tearing into him verbally twice. She was less restrained and cautious than I in some manners!

Lon, Can you explain the Perfect Wave transport to me? From what I read in a Audio Advisor catalog, you more or less rip the CD into it's memory? What advantages does it have over a computer - DAC combo? I'm just trying to wrap my little mind around it. Sort of like the $2150 Bryston Music Streamer that doesn't seem to do anything that my little $650 laptop can't do. I need to stop looking at catalogs.

Bottom line: I don't know there's probably not much that it does that your laptop "combo" doesn't. I have ZERO desire in having a laptop in my musical system. Laptops are for something else for me. I know they're perfect for many, but I don't dig using them in a music system. I love my cds, I have tons of them (possibly even LITERALLY) and I wanted to buy something that really made them shine and that I could also incorporate my video system into. This combo seems to do that very well, at least so far.

The thing that this combo does that your set up doesn't is allow the use of an I2S connection. This apparently means that the data doesn't have to undergo a splitting and recombining. It seems to me that this makes a difference. For Redbook I've tried coupling the transport via coaxial, glass toslilnk, and I2S via HDMI, and the latter clearly sounds a bit better, more 'ease" and naturalness to the sound. Also I don't know if you can do this with your system, but the "Native" feature means that this can be a Non-oversampling DAC, or there are five over-sampling choices to use. I really so far think the non-oversampling is possibly my favorite in all three sources I'm using. There are also five different digital filters to choose from, including apodizing filters that are the latest big deals, used in the top dollar Meridian processors that seem to be a big rage. There doesn't really seem to be a huge difference so far between these but it's fun to play around with.

There's the RAM that stores a few minutes of the disc (very quickly) and helps it to become an error-free version of the disc the way EAC etc. does in your laptop. And there's a Digital Lens built into the transport as well. I remember Randy the forum demigod couldn't do without his Digital Lens for the longest time, it's a very interesting component.

So far it seems a very promising pair of components. There's a lot of breakin that has to go on between the compnents and the cabling that came with it (excellent cables!) but so far it seems to be a great sounding and versatile combo that's fun to play with and suits my needs admirably. I have to say that it made me realize one thing categorically: my Sony SCD-XA5400ES and the ZCAC-1 are VERY GOOD, GIANT-KILLING components. This combo is clearly better, but it's not an earth-shattering difference, not right now at least and in my experience most components don't change radically in break in. But I'm happy so far. The fit and finish, which I really appreciate more and more as time goes by, is excellent. There's a flexibility that seems to mean I can tailor the sound a bit more consistently than tube-rolling and so far many different types of recordings sound really good. I spent a lot of money, but I wanted to get something that will make me feel really proud and which I can use for many purposes and have fun with. So far I think I selected well.

Lon, I beat you to your response and Googled up way more information than I could of asked for. I see what you are talking about, lots of flexability and precision built into the system. I also have quite a few CD's, vinyl and hell there is a big pile of lazer discs still around here. I just got tired of the "ritual" of handling media all of the time. By the time I got a album cleaned and the turntable set up I had forgotten why I wanted to play the stupid thing. I hate to admit it, but anymore 99% of my listening is out of my Ipod/Wadia setup. Until I get my ZDAC back, pickin's are pretty slim around here. Your PS stuff sounds really cool though, a little rich for my blood right now, but sometimes the money gods smile on me. You never know.........

Well, I guess even though I'm not doing vinyl any longer I'm happy maybe even anchored in the ritual, the handling of the physical object. At least I'm used to for so many decades having the notion that the object leads to the sound. A file on a PC or laptop doesn't seem the same to me. I gave up on vinyl because so much of the music I wanted to explore was right there on cd and NOT on lp (lp selection in this town is pretty poor in my opinion, always had been). Cd allows me to explore almost any genre and I can transfer vinyl to cdr as well. So I've amassed a huge collection and want the very best set-up I can afford to play them back. Actually I really can't afford the PS Audio set up, sensibly I wouldn't have spent the money, but I just had the bug to complete this audio odyssey. And here I am, listening to Miles Davis and it's sounding really really good. I feel I have a system to marvel over and I'm back to exploring music again.

I can see the other side, a PC based system being so convenient and practical and not cumbersome. But. . . well I look back on my work llfe and I was happiest when I wasn't tied to a computer, and I spend probably too much time with a laptop at home as well. Music listening has always had an appeal to me because it was outside that world of computers, it was a world of its own, with it's own ritual and a different "vibe." I don't feel inclined to change that, I like my excursion into this different world, I want to be outside the PC world with music and so here I am, happy.

Music listening has always had an appeal to me because it was outside that world of computers, it was a world of its own, with it's own ritual and a different "vibe." I don't feel inclined to change that, I like my excursion into this different world, I want to be outside the PC world with music and so here I am, happy.

This so resonates with me. Interestingly, even though I am able to access my NAS library through the Oppo or the PW DAC/Bridge, I am preferring the latter. I think there are two reasons for this:

1. Quality on the PW DAC is stunning, and it is audibly better than the Oppo's very good audio section.

2. Interacting with the PW DAC is more intimate than the Oppo. The Oppo puts this big display up on the screen (which I don't have to watch obviously, while listening, but I do have to use while selecting music, and it even tells me what kind of signal I have, etc.), and that big display changes something. A first, with the PW DAC, I felt confined by the tiny on-unit screen, but I have settled into interaction with either my iPhone or iPad (under iOS 5, I still have some glitchiness on the iPad), and that has restored the sense of intimacy.

Greg, I am so so happy you're really enjoying the PerfectWave DAC. I am really happy with its sound and its functions. And I confess I really like having the remote control of source and volume again (though I tend to get up and tailor the volume a lot varying the output from the DAC and the input volume of the Torii to get the differences of weight, dynamics, openness or richness similar to that will gets using his ZStage).

With all the talk of the HR-1 speakers on the webpage and at Dec Fest I decided to move my pair from the bedroom system out into the main system. It's been some time since I've done that and the results have been interesting.

I immediately miss the spacious open sound of the ERRs that the HR-1s just don't quite duplicate. There is a lot more depth to the sound with the ERRs, and more width as well, but they aren't "rectangular" territories but rounded or less specified zones. In contrast the HR-1s have a more compact and specific soundfield, with a more conventional compression to the image and stage, which takes a bit of getting used to for me. For small ensemble and solo instrument recordings this is actually a bit welcome. For orchestral, big band, big ensemble recordings I miss the envelopment of the ERRs, a bit.

There have been some changes since I last made a comparison, mainly in that the PS Audio PerfectWave Duo has been upgraded to Mk II and is very broken in, and that I have more of the top dollar PS Audio power cords in the system. As a result, the two speakers have come closer and closer together tonally, with the HR-1s perhaps a bit more "warm" and a bit more macro dynamic. The ERRs are perhaps a bit more micro-dynamic. And though I am not sure what the specs will tell, the ERRs seem to be a bit more efficient--I'm having to crank the HR-1s a bit more to get the same perceived level of sound. This may also be related to the presentation though, I may be goosing the volume a bit to compensate for the missing bits of depth and width? Not sure yet.

I'm leaving the HR-1s in for a week and will see how I feel about bringing the ERRs back at that time. In the meantime the ERRs are sounding excellent in the bedroom system, no surprise! If I keep them there I really need to find some sort of elaborate scheme to get Bob to send me the grilles for these. They're slightly more vulnerable there in the smaller room, and I would absolutely hate for anything to happen to the drivers.

Bottom line: the HR-1s are amazing speakers that deserve all the attention that they are getting. I'm not sure that my pair are identical to current production models, but they're I believe fairly close. They, along with the ERR show the excellence and innovation that Steve (and especially in these instances BOB!) bring to our homes and ears.

I compared the HR-1's to the Zen Open Baffle's with a Mini Torii and a ZCD200i through a ZDAC-1 on Saturday morning. With my music and to my ears there wasn't any comparison at all. The HR-1's were playing when I started, a couple of songs into the CD we decided to swap the speakers out to the ZOB's. I didn't even finish the song that was playing, we swapped back to the HR-1's and I was happy again.I was on the fence before I got to hear both speakers back to back. I really want to stress that to MY ears on MY music there was no contest, but then I play my music way too loud and it isn't what anyone would call subtle music. So to sum up what I heard, pennys are being saved, the new motorcycle fund might be getting raided. A Koa covered HR-1 should be my next big purchase.There might be a new contest next year with me giving away my MG944's. Only time will tell......

Interesting, as I've never heard a ZOB. If I had to give a quick answer to which of the two (ERR and HR-1) that I love most I'd say ERR because I just love the radial dispersion so much. It seems more natural and less "hifi" to me. But the HR-1 is the best speaker other than a Decware fully Radial design I've ever had.

I'm having a lot of fun lately when I visit my best friend's new condo (well it's his first condo, his first piece of property). He has a long rectangular living room and I gave him my RL-2 speakers, and they are just spectacular in that room. I really enjoy music and video over there now, and he's just ecstatic at the sound he has now. He has a Peachtree Audio integrated amp right now, one day he may have a Decware.

One other observation regarding the HR-1s made while playing this week. With the grille off the Radial driver especially, they can project like electrostatic speakers I've heard. Very quick and trowing a tall image. Quite impressive.

Well after extensive listening and another comparison between the two speakers here's my latest summation. . . .

For Redbook, I have to say I have learned to prefer the HR-1s by a hair. The front firing driver really adds a body and solidity to the lower midrange, and the lowest bass is quite powerful in its more compact form from this speaker compared to the more diffuse sound from the ERRs.

For vinyl, the ERR have just a tiny tiny slight edge, which surprises me, but the spaciousness the ERRs bring out of vinyl is just so seductive. The HR-1s are more precise, slightly more detailed, but I just love the dimensionality from the ERR while a record spins.

For video sources, the ERR is very similar to surround sound, and I prefer the ERR to the HR-1s clearly, though the HR-1s are excellent, so clear and tight with hires sources.

Too bad I can't really have two sets of speakers to switch back and forth on the fly in the main living space, as that would be the best situation. Both are fantastic speakers! Right now the HR-1s will stay in the system.

Hey Lon...I have enjoyed your comparisons of the HR-1 and ERRs. The preference for ambience and diffusion the ERRs provide makes sense in your setting and in the context of your desire to make bad recordings of good music sound as good as possible.

For me, the HR-Ones are off the charts good, but I have been tweaking them of course:-).

I think I have mentioned this before, but I think for those not aware of it, I would like to address the (sortof?) in this thread title. I am guessing that "HR-1 (sortof?)" has something to do with the HR-1s having continued to develop since yours were built. Same speaker in the main, but with modifications and refinements Bob really likes in his amazing implementation of integrating radial with a front driver transparently.

If I recall correctly, he gradually came up with several refinements, most on purpose, and some by chance. Like the newer crossover scheme separating the radials and the front woofer was apparently pretty dramatic....expanding the atmospheric ambient information, sound stage depth, width and height, and the stage saturation...overall giving a more spacious though natural and rich presentation. Perhaps closer to what you enjoy from the ERR presentation in the atmospheric information area.

There is new damping material and method for separating the top and bottom chamber; construction method improvements making for a cleaner corner and base fit; for the tweeters, there are more refined caps and I think resistors smoothing them out in a sweet way; and the passive openings have been changed a bit. This was as of my speakers, and only Bob knows if more has happened for the newly offered speaker.

It may well be that your personal preferences would still arrive at the ERR for your overall enjoyment, but for me, I am so happy with my HR-Ones that I don't even think about exploring speakers anymore. And though none of the recordings I listen to are super bad I think these would play bad recordings well. And I do like the smooth and refined clarity and focus of the speakers, presumably, in part due to the amazng implementation of the front drivers.

Actually, while listening though, I can't tell these are front firing/radial hybrids. I can't even hear the speakers, only the players. But then, I have explored refining them to my tastes/room a bit, so my thoughts may not be fully representational of the newest speaker either!

The sound though...players in the room is more the sense than ever; accurate timber; beautifully smooth detail, micro and macro; crazy good presentation of string bass and big drums...all the string strike, skin and wood present with all the space around the instruments intact in an eerily real way; piano like it is right here...an amazing triumph; strident horns like some Miles Davis stuff just sound like playing...and well recorded but still demanding horns, like Archie Shepp True ballads...reed and pads to brass and air...all crazy real and smooth. There is no doubt for me that these are an awesome example of the audio art.

It seems like they are very close on some points that you're almost splitting hairs between the two.

I would be interested in hearing your comparisons between the ERRs and the newly updated HR-1s. What we need is for Steve D to send you a new pair of HR-1s for an in depth review!

Your comparison also leads me to belive that I would prefer the HR-1's as a Center Channel in a home theater environment compared to the ERR's, where the ERRs seem like they would be quite intoxicating in 2 Channel Stereo and/or would be great as surrounds and left/right channels as well, but I tend to like my movie dialog fired directly at me in comparison to radiating.

This also has me convinced that Decware should focus on an HR-1 Center channel for movie buffs rather than having to buy pairs of speakers for the center.

will, I'm not sure where mine stands in the development process, I don't think that they are as far away from yours as earliest models may be. Regardless, what fuels the differences between the two models most is the amount of exposure the Radial driver has, and the conventional front firing driver. I think the model that would most endear itself to me would be one that incorporated the front-firing driver with a more fully exposed radial driver. I imagine that would be very hard to accomplish, but would be killer in my system. If the depth from the ERR could be woven into the presentation, that would be amazing. (It's extremely clever the integration that Bob made for this model, with a smaller radial driver mostly enclosed, and with the grilles on top directing the radiation to be closer to the front-firing radiation; the presentation is very different with the grilles removed--at least in my rooms--presenting a tall image and almost like a big electrostatic screen image, but less integrated with the front-firing driver than when the grilles are in place. I imagine integrating more radial dispersion with the front-firing would be difficult mainly because of the height and "ear level" of such a configuration, my guess is that it may be best accomplished with the front-firing driver just below a fully exposed radial driver, and the tweeter suspended above the radial driver as in the ERR. If I had skill to do so I'd experiment with that, I think I'd just go nuts for a speaker like that).

I would say that I would be perfectly happy with the HR-1s f I were not using the system as both audio AND video. For video sources the ERR simply wins out. And beowolf, I find the dialog tied to the screen with ERRs in place, and so did Pale Rider I believe; I think I'd be in heaven with 4 ERRs for surround sound if I were into surround sound and could house a system.

will, I simply never find "players in the room" to be a way that I hear music, as I have HAD players in my room and play music in my room and there's clearly a distinction, reality is reality, playback is playback. Really to my ears both sets of speakers come as close to this, with the ERR actually seeming a bit more "real" as in less "hifi" in the way that stereo reproduction highlights things that aren't really "real" like super image size and specificity, dynamics concentrated in a spot and not radiating out, etc. I still think vinyl accomplishes this realism a bit more easily than even the best digital, and I find that the ERR present playback in a more "real" way. That's ultimately important to me, as all my life I've struggled with these "hifi" attributes.* The HR-1s have a bit of a leg up on tonal clarity and extension, which can be very good (and quite ugly with mediocre and worse recordings) and most important for Redbook cd playback, which is more challenged imo than vinyl or hires in this regard. The slight compression/concentration of the sound caused by the front-firing driver is also beneficial for Redbook. Redbook is what it is, but it isn't perfect.

* From my life experience and listening experience I think the problem is in the way that recordings are made. I actually listen to a fair amount of music from the 'teens, 'twenties and 'thirties and I believe these "hifi" attributes initially show up as limitations of the recording media and methods of the time, and that "sound" and presentation became so ingrained into records and playback that it's become the way music playback is expected to be. And these attributes became manufactured later into recordings when the media and equipment became much better, that sound was simply what was brought about on recordings as it was accepted as the sound of recorded music (and there were other, more realistic options possible, as I've proven to myself with my own rather simple recordings made on very basic equipment, and recordings that were made to be more realistic to the way music is experienced live in the air.) I grew up hearing my grandmother play the piano and organ, my grandfather and my uncle dueting on banjo and guitar, music in the church, etc. and when I came to fall in love with recorded music I just learned to live with the departure from reality that "hifi" brings, but I always wanted a more real presentation. The Radial speakers from Decware were the first move away from "hifi" to a more realistic sound that I've found, and they stole my heart. When paired with recordings made with an ear towards a more realistic sound they're amazing, and they breathe depth and a closer sound to that of the live experience into more conventional recordings. Big praise from me to Steve and Bob for exploring and offering these type of speakers.

It seems like they are very close on some points that you're almost splitting hairs between the two.

I would be interested in hearing your comparisons between the ERRs and the newly updated HR-1s. What we need is for Steve D to send you a new pair of HR-1s for an in depth review!

Your comparison also leads me to belive that I would prefer the HR-1's as a Center Channel in a home theater environment compared to the ERR's, where the ERRs seem like they would be quite intoxicating in 2 Channel Stereo and/or would be great as surrounds and left/right channels as well, but I tend to like my movie dialog fired directly at me in comparison to radiating.

This also has me convinced that Decware should focus on an HR-1 Center channel for movie buffs rather than having to buy pairs of speakers for the center.

Thanks again for the great review!

b, I don't think I have the heart and stamina to live through another speaker break-in period, so I'm not eager to hear another HR-1 right now. I suspect that the fully broken in newer model would still not fundamentally change my impressions as it's the extent of radial dispersion between the two designs that defines them most to my ears.

And as I noted above I do find that the dialog is centered on the screen very nicely in two channel use of the ERRs with my DVR and Blu-ray players. I'm not sure I would need a center channel (though I'm less experienced with surround sound, and confess that I've never really heard a surround sound system that I felt warranted the cost of all the extra channels).

My HR-1s sound very, very close to the same with the grill and top piece that surrounds the radial driver off as on. In other words, after removing the two top parts leaving the radial rising out of the top chamber. From this, I am guessing the combination of modifications in mine might have done something similar to what you would like from the HR-1...integrating the radial more into the presentation. But I can only go from my experience compared to your description, and from my (hopefully well remembered) dialog with Bob as my speakers were being built and tested.

I too have played a lot of music (mostly acoustic) and off and on delving into recording. And I think I get what you are talking about...the difference between straight up players in a room and recorded player. But I definitely get a sense of players in the room from my system, though often from within the context of all the stuff that you can do with recording...different mic sounds and techniques, compression, reverbs, amps, etc. The difference may be a semantic thing, as it appears close to impossible to have a loudspeaker/amp arrangement sound exactly like acoustic player in the same room, but this is part of why I like my system...for the most part it sounds better with the oomph of the stereo system behind the music to me. Only in amazing rooms have I experienced live music as engaging as my system. Most rooms just don't make players sound that good. So, I like well recorded music and how we can bring out the best of the instrument by mic techniques and studio rooms and treatments, that is as long as it respects the inherent qualities of the voices or instruments.

With my speakers, there is no sense of the sound being different from the movie screen. And I don't quite know what high-fi means, but imagine it has something to do with hyped presentation??? Or maybe what I am describing above is "hifi." But to me, with good recordings mine just sound like beautifully recorded instruments in my room giving a very visceral sense of all the nuance of the voice or instrument in this room space...very real sounding close and extended ambience defining the later spacial placement, and the engulfing sweetness, bathed in the sound thanks to great room, source, amplification and loudspeakers. There are of course almost always little bits that don't make it to the recording well, but for the most part, within this, my system/room nails it for me.

With recordings with decent sound stage, it never feels too big or hyped, but just about right. Maybe it is source and system tuning, maybe it is room (which I am sure has loads to do with what a system can pull from recordings) and I suspect from all our posts, that I may have more detail integrated into my sound...a critical aspect of soundstage and visceral response to the music's sense of "real" to me. I go for just enough to define sound stage, air and presence, while not leaving hard edges on things...balanced sound with layered depth of inner detail. With my source arrangement, the super fine harmonic details and textures are present without harsh edges, bringing out what I refer to as detail layers, and love this.

So who knows, but as far as written explanations can convey...I would guess our HR-1's probably sound a lot alike, but also perhaps different in subtle qualities of presentation. Just playing with caps and resistors on mine made a big difference in refinement of sound to tastes, and damping made a big difference again for serious listening, so the mods Bob has made could be notable in our critical listening mode. But not having both to listen too.......

I doubt that they sound that different will. I clearly hear, in every room and every system that I have ever heard in other homes and showrooms, that there is a distinct difference between recorded and live music that prohibits me from saying that "players are in the room." I can say that the presentation can be extremely faithful to the recording, but a recording is a recording and in no sense is a player in the room. No amount of modifying the HR-1 is going to change this. It may be just semantics, but I can't ever say that, it's just not true. Just me, others can say that, I can't. One of my audio oddball things, I just accept that others use that term as well as I can.

"Hifi" are attributes that distance the presentation from a real and natural sound, all recorded sound is "hifi" to me in that sense, it's a pet term of mine. The ERR presentation sounds a bit more real and natural to me. I think it's because it presents things in a more diffuse pattern which mimics the way sound from performers in real space does, compared to the more conventional sound of the HR-1 dispersion. In that sense I view the HR-1 as more "hifi" and the ERR as a move in the direction of natural sound. If you could live with ERRs for a time I think you'd understand the distinction I am feeling. (This ties back to how I view recorded sound through history; "hifi" is quite standard fare for recordings unfortunately).

I think we're basically on the same page.

As for sound with the grilles off, I would doubt there's that big a difference, and perhaps the difference is mostly descriptive. But in my case there is less integration of the sound with the grilles off, and a change in the radiation pattern that makes a less convincing presentation for me, a higher image.

Anyway, glad you love yours. I love mine too. They're not magic, can't bring three dimensional beings with real sound into my home, but I can't expect them to. I love the ERRs too, I'm really conflicted as both do something integrally more preferable than the other though both have great similarities. And both are great speakers.

Lon, I don't mean to say the HR-1 differences are responsible for what I call a sense of players in the room, though I think they contribute to this. My MG944s did it for me too, but the HR-1s do it with refinement to the timbre, smoothness, and realism.

I think our difference of opinion of the engaging aspect of the sense of a player in the room is a different matter than the question over whether the speakers you are talking about, are not exactly what Bob is producing now. This is the main point to me, that you making very careful comparisons on the speakers as if they were the same, and maybe they are not all that different, but maybe they are.

And here it can be semantic too. You and I both can go on about subtle cable differences... in one mind they can be huge and in another subtle.

Yes, our differences are about the use of the phrase "players in the room." I've seen it used over and over again in audio as some sort of literal thing and I just can't ever say it happens for me. Not even with expanded mind! I know what people mean, but taken literally it's just never true for me and I can't say it.

I'm trying to describe the differences between the HR-1 and ERR that I have, and I think the differences would stand as clearly delineated no matter what "version" of HR-1 I have. When I first got the HR-1 I mentioned the differences that I heard with the grilles off and I remember Bob noting he didn't really notice a difference. I do. So maybe it's room dependent, but I do, and so did the other pair of ears I trust locally, my friend trumpeter Dave Laczko. I don't think it's differences in versions as Bob didn't hear it. Maybe set up, source, cabling, power, room? I don't know. It's quite distinct.

I have a pair of HR-1s on order, but after my latest experiment I am rethinking this. While doing some room sweeps with the DSPeaker, and staring at my custom servo subs and my ERRs, I realized the base of the ERRs and the top of the subs are virtually identical in size, and the angle of the cabinets is likewise almost identical. Although the subs were built to match visually with the ERRs, it turns out the builder did not intentionally match them this closely. So, I tried something as indicated in the attached pic [sorry for the quality; daughter's phone]. I plopped the ERRs on top of the subs, and all I can say is the effect is amazing, and not just to me, but to at least two musician friends, who insist, like me, the soundstage imaging is much improved.

And after running a couple of more sweeps, I have to say the 2-channel imaging is extraordinary. Bob wrote me today to describe some of his latest listening with the most recent HR-1s he built, and his description sounds divine, but what I have going now, especially with an extremely well-matched room/amplitude curve, is itself fairly breathtaking. Lon, that Trinity Revisited recording of Blue Moon is spell-binding.

Wow, interesting. I've not been that crazy in the past about a tweeter level that high, but it should be addressed in a case by case basis. If it saves you the money of the HR-1s, that's way cool. Keep us posted!

Yeah, Lon, me either. I was surprised by several things: (1) the better-than-expected vertical dispersion of the tweeter (I already knew it was decent from above, because when I stood, the speakers still had excellent high frequency performance and imaging, so on reflection, it was less surprising that the vertical dispersion should also be effective downward; (2) the eeriness of the appearance of strong, almost-visible instruments and musicians in front of a large block of wood (something I have experienced before with good tower speakers); and (3) the lack of any holes in the image.

I was not looking to save the expense of the HR-1, and I have not canceled my order yet, and still may not. But it is making me think. I have had a number of systems with very effective bass over the years (including an amazing pair of isobarikally loaded dual subs, built with Dynaudio drivers and playing beneath 6-foot ribbon towers), and I have had systems without. Getting the bass right here is huge. Paul McGowan makes this point often over at PSA. My current subs were built using Rhythmik Audio amps and servo woofers. McGowan recommends servos, as did my builder, and these were built to be as fast as possible to integrate well with the ERRs, and they do. I will see if I can post the before/after freq sweeps, because it is interesting to see what has been achieved in my room, with the combo of the ERRs and the subs, and the "management" of them by the DSPeaker.

I'm not really surprised that it is working out. I have no personal in room experience with subwoofers, multi-channel, etc. and I found that with two ERR the bass in this room is great. But the HR-1 have even better bass, and the tweeter is a bit higher and that (and the front-firing driver) add more specific and conventional imaging and directional sound. I actually like the ERR complete sound a bit better, but other listeners in my room prefer the HR-1 == in part because they find dialog easier to hear (they have a bit of hearing challenges compared to me) and also because they are used to the more conventional presentation elements within the HR-1 presentation.

An ERR on top of a subwoofer would be introducing a stronger bass and an elevated tweeter position, similar to the HR-1 presentation, so I can see that this would be quite interesting.

Of late, with the addition of the PS Audio PerfectWave PowerBases and recent rectifier changes to the Torii I have what I think is very accurate and dynamic bass with the HR-1s and don't feel the need for Mid Bass Modules or sub-woofers and I'm enjoying sound like never before. I'll probably put the ERRs back in before I pack up the system in a week or so, and I'm really curious to hear how things will be in my new home in Ohio.

Keep us posted! Always interested to hear how your system is developing.

Yeah, it is a bit visually "disruptive," but it is working so far. Sometimes, I have to close my eyes and not look at the tower, and that's when the soundstage is readily apparent. And on some of the finer BluRay audio discs, all channels are just amazing.

Interesting comment about dialogue and the ERRs. I think you are correct about this. We tried my system with no center speaker, using only phantom center. And both young and old agreed that dialogue was difficult to discern. Bob suggested the HR-1s would have much less difficulty presenting a credible phantom center channel. We then tried restoring one ERR [remember, my center ERR tweeters are rear-firing], and this restored proper center channeling, and made dialogue much easier. Of course, with the volume control on the SE84ZS, and decent home theater speaker management, I have the flexibility to adjust the volume, but a center ERR was a necessity with the others. My next experiment is to flip the tweeter to forward firing and see what impact that has. One of the beauties of the ERR, is that the rear-firing effect tends to make dialogue and other center effects track beautifully across a large screen. So, will see if the forward-firing is too directional.

I am wondering if you have tried to sort out how much of your sound stage improvements can be attributed to the DSpeaker, and how much to the tower arrangement. The way you describe it, sounds like how I might describe mine...stable and saturated player locations, height, width, depth, and spacial relationships giving players a sense of being in a real room. But most of all, it is so captivating to hear players sound so present and real, to be so naturally located and integrated with one another, and to have some of them through and outside the walls of the room. Then there is the ambience.......

To get this refined took some serious room/system management trying for that fine line balance of realistic bass, a rich midrange, and just enough detail to really dial in the soundstage. The bass is pretty amazing now, but after doing all the room treatment I can get together without being obnoxious in the living room, it is an ongoing process that to most might be pretty tedious..adjusting specific eq frequencies, Q's, and cuts in Pure Music as new resonance flaws show up from new recordings. They say this can't be done by ear, but I think it has worked very well, though it has taken a lot of time. I do wonder though, what your magic box would do, and how much easier it would do it!

Tweeter placement is not standard here either, my HR-1s (placed close together, only 46" inside plinth to inside plinth) sound best toed slightly out...just slightly. You literally can't get any sense of the speakers putting the music in the room location-wise...they sit there appearing to do nothing. Though most recordings are naturally narrower, the player part of the soundstage can go beyond the width of our main living area...30 some feet wide, and maybe 15 feet deep on good recordings. "Normal" toe in reduces the stage considerably and makes the speakers more obvious. So your quirky, high tweeter placement really working well does not surprise me.

Anyway, if you get some time, I would love to hear more about the DSpeaker influence on your sound in general, and what part you think it plays in the soundstage improvements.

Greg, I actually don't have problem myself with dialog with the ERR, I love how the voices stand in the air and they seem positioned across my (smaller, 40") screen well. Those who have trouble with the ERR have some hearing issues (one tinnitus, two age related hearing loss) that I don't have (had my ears tested recently, quite good hearing).

They are also persons who use their tv speakers for sound at home, and everything is presented so differently that way!

And again, I'm only dealing with 2 channel, which I imagine makes a difference from 5.1 or 7.1.

The HR-1 does present voices in a way that they hear more easily, and also over time they've adapted to the sound of the voices on my system a bit more.

@Lon, remember that I have that big gaping screen in between the speakers, plus the two ZRACKs of components, and so, while I am not sure I would say dialogue was difficult to discern without the center channel [interestingly, it was my children and girlfriend who said that most, while I, tinnitus and all, had the least difficulty with the phantom center channel], I would say that it was decidedly different, and less "direct." But I also have that experience you describe, and in my case, on 5.1, part of it relates to the rear-firing ERR. These big towers now look even more inert and inactive, like they have nothing to do with the sound hanging in the mid-air. I like the way my girlfriend put it: "I can tell where everything is, but I cannot tell where it is coming from."

@will, I did skip a step here, one that I plan to post over in my thread in Home Theater. The DSPeaker difference was very nearly night and day, even before I created the "Ziegler Tower." This was true with and without the subs in circuit. The ERRs, before the DSPeaker, were very very good, though a tad bass-shy. With the DSPeaker, the bass curve falloff was smoothed, and imaging was improved.

But with a single sub in circuit [a 2.1 configuration], the full sense of depth was very impressive. And the bass is deep and tighter than a, well, that can go unsaid. Switching to a 2.2 configuration was even better, because I got the benefit of a deeper image, especially on the right side of the orchestra. But choosing to treat the subs as not subs, but extensions of the ERRs, and setting the DSPeaker for 2.0 was best of all. And it is when I did that that I got the idea of sticking the ERRs on top of the subs [subs have been in the house for months; shows how dense I can be]. And the combo of the vertical height [which works very well for creating a broad soundstage across the monitor], and the bass control/room control, was just amazing. To your point Will, the system was already sounding good by virtue of the DSPeaker. The tower was an improvement, but not as much as the other. The depth and speed of incredibly taut bass is a real jaw-dropper, and the integration of that into the freq curve, while adjusting it for the room, makes all the difference I think..

I have to say I will not run my system without something like the DSPeaker in it. I am not sure I am prepared to boot my PWD/Lumin/Ultra combo for the DSPeaker, as one reviewer said, in part because it cannot handle all the hi-res I play, but I will say that its presence in the system is the single biggest improvement since I drank the Decware Kool-Aid.

Yeah your setup is a little different than mine. I have my audio rack about two feet from the front wall with my TV on top, and the speakers about thirty inches in front of the rack, and my seat about five feet in front of them. Works really well in this room.

I am not sure I am prepared to boot my PWD/Lumin/Ultra combo for the DSPeaker, as one reviewer said, in part because it cannot handle all the hi-res I play, but I will say that its presence in the system is the single biggest improvement since I drank the Decware Kool-Aid.

That is impressive indeed. Another tribute to the power of room on a system as well as the amazing ability of the DSpeaker to fix that without sonic complaints. Says something for the trend of 2.2 systems too! Subs doing more than just beef up bass.

This is exciting. Sounds like the magical tool you needed to pull your sound into a more sublime state with little pain!

The DSPeaker is currently hooked up just before the Ultra. It feeds channel 'B' and that channel then feeds the subs. Right now, the Lumin feeds the DSPeaker directly. I tried using Emotiva as a switch between the Lumin, PWD, and the 105, and it worked, but it sure put a lot of gain controls [analog and digital] in my signal path. So, for testing, I just used the Lumin. It also had the effect of removing my subs from my HT rig. Great for 2-channel, but not so hot for movies or BluRay audio through the 105.

That is all changing this week, because I realized that I have the perfect switching device for swapping the sub inputs directly between the home theater and the stereo—the Zektor. Each system has its own processor, the Emotiva for HT, and the DSPeaker for 2-channel. So, I will finish setting up the sub-switcher this week, and then I will have it all lined up. Although John Mingo of Baetis advised me last night the Baetis is about to ship out, so I will have a whole new problem, er, solution to insert into the system.

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How did you hook it up?

You mean, which connections? It's unbalanced analog. The DSPeaker has the ability to output both balanced and unbalanced at the same time, but there is nothing on the Decware side that can receive the balanced signal.

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You aren't using it presently as a DAC are you?

Nope.

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Can you hear it other than the EQ sorting it does?

Zero noise from the unit. No hum. And none of that "breathing" that hallmarked earlier DSP. Interestingly, the quality of the volume control in analog mode is excellent. I tried some low level listening, using the DSPeaker as a volume reducer, and the level of detail remained very engaging.

You bet will. I noticed some interesting changes over at the US retailer site for DSPeaker. They are now selling a nice looking PSU for the DSPeaker, and some interesting interconnects and a USB-over-Ethernet transceiver/cable combo. They are clearly marketing to the audiophanatic market now, as well they probably should, given the very enthusiastic reception and reviews they are getting. I rather wish that PSU had been available when I placed my order, but then, I don't hear any noise or "loss of black" from the device anyway.

If anyone is actually interested in one of these devices, and is using subs, I encourage them to consider the 8033 series of units as well. These are much less expensive, and deliver 95% of the functionality of the Anti-Mode. I almost went with an 8033S-II, but I decided I wanted the visual feedback of the Anti-Mode, and the flexibility it offered with full-range speakers, in case I separated out my system. I may yet buy an 8033 for my downstairs HT system, just because I am very, very impressed with what their electronics do for real bass. My family have also noticed that LFE is much more enjoyable with the DSP, because the effects no longer seem as bloated or exaggerated, and there is less of that LFE overhang—or is it "hangover"?—from the room interaction. As my daughter put it, the dinosaur stomps sound like stomps, not thunderstorms.

Sounds like the stuff for your system/room, and probably for many more rooms than we would like to admit.

In reading your posts I first thought you were running the DSpeaker only to the subs. Not sure if this is right or not, but if only the subs are running from it, the material is much less complex than if the processor were in the signal path of the whole output range.

Then when I read that you tried the DSpeaker for a volume adjustment and it worked well, I thought you may be running in the standard way...pre to sub, through sub crossover, to ERR...in which case you are running the entire signal through the DSpeaker.

This would equate more to my system since I only have full range HR-1s and would have to run everything through the DSpeaker unit. This is why I asked if you could hear it...not just for lack of noise, but for discernible impact on the more complex mid to high information. Any thoughts?

Finally, I noticed Tweekgeek also carries the DSpeaker line, and without a return fee if like new...they apparently have a waiting list on the Dual Core though.

Yeah will, I am running the DSPeaker on the whole signal, not just subs, taking advantage of the way the Ultra outputs its signals. The signal goes in to the Ultra from the DSPeaker, so the full range is running through it. The DSPeaker is capable of automatic adjustments up through 500hz, and I am going to try that this weekend, as well as PE adjustments across the full range, and I am going to try some fiddling with that. The Absolute Sound review was very enthusiastic about those capabilities.

This morning, while listening to some Emily Palen, both Creation and Glass, I have concluded that I am very, very happy with my speaker rig. I probably have a little more fine-tuning to do, with some modest room treatments to supplement the DSPeaker, but integrating the servo subs, getting the setup done so it properly meets the needs of home theater and music was a big step, and then running the calibrations of both was of course that much better [the Emotiva has a very nice program for the HT, more effective than the Audessey program, in my view]. Having something that sounds this good on Home Theater, and an incredible array of 2-channel music, is just amazing. Last night, listened to the following:

This is a broad range of music, and to have one system satisfyingly reproduce it at low levels and high—which is not to say this is the be-all-end-all, only that it works for me on a broad array—is fundamentally satisfying. I also watched Dark Knight Rises. The properly controlled LFE, and the directionality of audio effects, was just amazing. it is as if the ERRs are made for HT. Heightening the RF/LF speakers actually enhanced the movie experience.

I am sure the HR-1s are a better stand-alone speaker than the ERRs. I have corresponded enough with Bob, and listened to the impressions here, to believe that, without ever hearing them. And I have a gut confidence that you get at least 2x of what you pay for from Decware. But I have realized that I am unlikely to significantly improve what I already have. Time to enjoy it.

When I decided back in January to order the HR-1, I was down to the Teresonic Ingenium [3x the price] and the Ikonoklast3 [similar price]; both are locally made and so, easy to audition. At the end of the day, the combo of the ERRs, plus the servo subs designed specifically to mate with the ERRs, is already what I want and need. So, today, in the spirit of "this has made me stop searching," I canceled my HR-1 order. I hope to get to Decfest this year and maybe listen to them before I, perhaps inevitably, decide to order them again.

Sounds really exciting Greg! This seems sort of monumental. You have been progressively pulling together and refining this complex system for a while, and now, with your tower breakthrough and DSpeaker, it sounds like you have come to a solid satisfaction of completion and contentment! It has been an enjoyable and informative story, and I am sure it will continue, but to get the foundation where you have it now.... Congratulations!

You know Greg, I personally can't definitively say my HR-1s are better speakers than my ERRs. They're different, but better? Can't say that. I totally love the unconventional sound of the ERRs and the HR-1 adds a conventional element to the sound that is not always better. I'm lucky that I have them both, but if I had to choose. . . I couldn't part with the ERRs.

And coming from a little different sonic angle on things than Lon to me the HR-1s kick ass. Though an objective for me is the one system plays all thing also, it costs too much for some stuff...some lean and sorry recordings just don't get played much here. I should actually digitally remaster some of those!

I don't find the HR-1 conventional...more just extra good representers of the very complex and subtle sounds of musical instruments and groups of players. The radial driver is beautifully and transparently integrated in this representation, but also a notable addition to the overall presentation. Sitting at my computer, at about 30 degrees diagonal from the closer speaker, it appears to me that I hear the radial splash of music more than that coming from the front drivers. From here, they sound more like round speakers than square ones.

The things that really impress me with these speakers is the way they pull subtle timbre, and the natural and complete ways they portray piano and drums in particular. But these same qualities are throughout. What a pleasure.

The players apparently have nothing to do with the speakers though, the HR-1s just looking like they are sitting idle.

This said, I can imagine that the ERRS are very, very nice, and having that adjustable tweeter must be very cool. I bet I would really like them!

I can say, I have no intelligibility problems with my DVD viewing. That would drive me nuts.

will, with the ERR and the HR-1 side by side there are conventional elements that the HR-1 present that the ERR don't. That's just a fact that owning both for years has made evident to me.

I also got to listen to two sets of Maggie panel speakers last weekend and the HR-1 has aspects of these in its presentation that the ERR doesn't. Boy, after living with Bob's speakers I had zero interest in taking Maggies home--something I might not have said several decades ago.

It's not a bad thing at all to have that conventional element in there, but I just love the total radial sound without the front firing driver. AND the lower and adjustable tweeter angle. Just a bit more than I love the HR-1 setup.

I am thinking about replacing my Polk LSiM M 703 speakers with the ERR radials. Has anyone heard both of these speakers? Would I be making a considerable improvement? I am powering with a Torii MK3. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks for this great discussion thread!It convinced me to order some ERRs, I was on the fence between these and HR-1s but my current room is tiny (8x9) and I've tried my B&W 805 from my surround sound system, but no magic there. Hopefully the ERRs will sound great, they also get a new Torii MkIV to drive them ;D.Looking forward getting these unique and handmade pieces!